The Night I Left, He Turned Grey

Cherry Cole immediately hugged Leila Jennings’s leg, looking pitiful. "Leila, you’ll be on my side, right? You’ll put in a good word for me with my brother, won’t you?"

"This time it was because of me. I’ll write a self-criticism report for President Cole."

"I mean in the future, too. Always."

"Of course," Leila Jennings nodded. "You’re my friend."

"And my brother?"

"My boss."

"Ah..." Cherry Cole tsked. "My brother is so useless. Forget it, let’s not talk about him. Let’s go back and have some barbecue and soda!"

The two sat on the rug in Cherry Cole’s apartment. Barbecue was piled on the coffee table, with a can of soda next to it.

They ate and drank together.

Leila Jennings had ordered mild spice, but Cherry Cole couldn’t taste much heat and kept saying she should have ordered medium.

"Can you handle spicier food?"

"Of course."

Leila Jennings thought of the local specialties the director of her old orphanage had sent her. She didn’t have many friends, so she usually shared them with the Sinclair family and Professor Cheney’s family.

"The orphanage director sent me some local specialties. I’ll bring some for you tomorrow."

"Okay!" Cherry Cole’s eyes curved into a smile.

Her phone lit up on the table with a message from Sean Sinclair. Leila Jennings flipped it face down and continued eating and chatting with Cherry Cole.

Most of the time, Cherry Cole did the talking while Leila Jennings listened intently, often chuckling at Cherry’s expressions, gestures, and the things she said.

’No wonder Professor and Mrs. Cheney always said I should make some friends.’

’Having friends makes life more exciting. It even lets me briefly forget about my terrible marriage with Sean Sinclair.’

「Elsewhere.」

Sean Sinclair was still waiting.

He checked his phone every half hour, looking at the time and seeing if Leila Jennings had messaged him.

Their chat history was short. For one, he was busy with work during the day, and for another, he used to see Leila Jennings every day.

Leila Jennings was late and didn’t reply for a long time. When she finally did, she just said she was tied up.

Sean Sinclair sat on the sofa, staring at the feast of leftovers on the table as an inexplicable anger flared up inside him.

Spencer Shelby glanced at the time. It was already ten o’clock. His sister-in-law still wasn’t back; she probably wasn’t coming back tonight.

"Sean, how about I have a drink with you?"

"No need." Sean Sinclair’s expression was grim. "You should go."

Spencer Shelby left, sending Sarah Lynch a message as soon as he was out the door.

[Sean’s in a bad mood tonight. Maybe you could go cheer him up? We can’t let a bad mood affect his work, not with this big project.]

[Is Sean at the office?]

[At home.]

Sarah Lynch frowned slightly. She didn’t really want to go. The last time, at Eden Restaurant, Sean had made her angry and just brushed her off with a new handbag instead of apologizing in person.

’Oh well, men need to be coaxed.’

’I can’t be too dramatic either.’

Sarah Lynch rang the doorbell.

The next second, the door opened from the inside.

"Why are you ringing the doorbell?" Sean Sinclair was clearly taken aback to see Sarah Lynch at the door.

He had thought it was Leila Jennings.

"Sean," Sarah Lynch said with a smile. "I don’t know the code to your place."

With that, she walked straight in, taking off her overcoat to reveal her slender figure.

Sean Sinclair watched her, slowly closing the door and walking over. "Why did you come without saying anything?"

"Well, someone told me you were unhappy, so I came to check on you." Sarah Lynch noticed the food on the table. "So many plates and chopsticks. Did you just have a dinner party? Who else was here besides Spencer Shelby?"

"Leila Jennings and her friend," Sean Sinclair’s tone grew irritated. "Cherry Cole got drunk and insisted on Leila taking her home."

Upon hearing Leila Jennings’s name and seeing that she wasn’t home, Sarah Lynch immediately realized something, and the smile on her face slowly vanished.

"Sean, why are you in a bad mood?"

Sean Sinclair denied it. "I’m not."

"Is it because of Leila Jennings?" Sarah Lynch pressed, only to be met with Sean Sinclair’s loud denial.

"I said I’m not."

Sarah Lynch jumped, her eyes quickly welling up with tears. "Sean," she called out, aggrieved.

Sean Sinclair wiped his face with his hand and softened his tone. "I’m sorry, Sarah. I shouldn’t have raised my voice at you. I just... I don’t know what came over me."

Sarah Lynch knew.

’It’s because Leila took someone home and still hasn’t come back.’

’Sean is in a bad mood because of Leila.’

’He raised his voice at me because of Leila.’

A sense of crisis welled up in Sarah Lynch. Not daring to press the issue, she stepped forward and hugged him.

"Sean, I missed you so much. Hold me."

Sean Sinclair glanced back at the front door, afraid Leila Jennings might suddenly return, yet at the same time wishing she would.

Sarah Lynch sensed that he wasn’t hugging her back and grew even more anxious. She immediately remembered another advantage she had.

"Sean, I have the project data for the self-developed chip. Do you need it? I’m waiting to attend your victory celebration, you know."

...

「The next day.」

Leila Jennings woke up early out of habit. She made breakfast for Cherry Cole, left a note, and went to work at the Cole Group.

Zachary and Secretary Gwen were away on a business trip, so it was just her and Caine in the office. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

She had also brought a portion of breakfast for Caine.

Caine posted a picture on her social media feed: *Treated by a coworker.*

President Cole liked your post.

Caine: "?"

She thought her eyes were playing tricks on her.

’President Cole liked my post for the first time.’

Leila Jennings noticed Caine looking at her meaningfully and asked, puzzled, "Is something wrong?"

"Nope." Caine shook her head, thoroughly enjoying the breakfast.

At noon, Leila Jennings took advantage of Sean Sinclair’s absence to go home and grab her things, which she temporarily stored at the office.

Worried that Caine might find them unpleasant, she deliberately placed them under her own desk.

But as soon as Caine opened her eyes, she started sniffing the air.

"It smells so good, kind of like spicy strips. Do you smell that, Jennings?"

Leila Jennings glanced down at her feet and explained, "It’s not spicy strips, just some local specialties. Would you like to try some?"

"May I?" Caine’s eyes lit up.

Leila Jennings pulled out a jar of crispy chili peanuts and a bag of spicy potato chips and handed them over. "These two aren’t too spicy."

Caine happily took them, opened them immediately, and started eating. They were a little spicy for her, but also very fragrant and delicious.

She posted on her feed again: *Local specialties from my coworker. Being treated again.*

After posting, she started ordering takeout.

"Jennings, I’ll treat you to afternoon tea."

Her post was once again liked by President Cole, while Zachary and Secretary Gwen left a string of "So jealous" comments.

After work, Leila Jennings went downstairs carrying her things. A cherry-blossom pink Ferrari was parked at the entrance of the Cole Group.

"Leila!" Cherry Cole leaned out and waved at her.

It was quitting time, and everyone who saw it turned to look.

They had long heard that President Cole had promoted an unknown administrator to be his secretary, and that this secretary had a "sister" who drove a Ferrari.

Those with sharp eyes already recognized her as the conglomerate’s young heiress, and the looks they gave Jennings became even more extraordinary.

Leila Jennings gave a helpless smile and walked over, carrying three plastic bags.

"Leila, thank you for making me breakfast! I just got back from my old man’s place, so I came to pick you up from work."

"This is my actual car; the red one is my brother’s. Don’t believe him when he says my driving is bad. I’m a steady driver," Cherry Cole swore. "I’ll get you home safely, I promise."

Leila Jennings: "I know."

Cherry Cole asked, "To the Thorne Residence, right?"

"Yeah." Leila Jennings had to go back first to let Mrs. Cheney and Mr. Duncan know, and then she would move into Mrs. Cheney’s empty house.

Arriving at the Thorne Residence, Butler Duncan enthusiastically invited Cherry Cole to come in and sit down.

Leila Jennings stood to the side, portioning out the local specialties. She said to Cherry Cole, "Try some first. If you like them, you can get more from me."

Cherry Cole accepted them as if they were priceless treasures. She took pictures and posted them on her social media feed, and also sent them to her dear brother.

[Image]

[This is the breakfast Leila made for me! ～]

[Image]

[These are the local specialties Leila gave me! ～]

[You don’t have any, brother! ～]

Nathaniel Cole tossed his phone aside, his head throbbing with irritation.

Leila Jennings had arranged for him to finish negotiating one partnership abroad only to have to rush immediately to the next, while she was busy feeding one person after another.

Just as she finished handing out the specialties, Leila Jennings’s phone suddenly rang.